Tien Linh's low notes

At the peak of his talent, 29-year-old striker Nguyen Tien Linh has been dropped from the Vietnamese national team for the first time due to a decline in form. This is truly a sad blow for the striker who has been almost the number one striker for the Vietnamese national team for nearly 8 years.

Tien Linh's disappointment at missing a scoring opportunity in the quarter-finals of the 2025-2026 National Cup - Photo: NK

"The players aren't scoring, but I'll try to encourage them, I'll try to train them to regain their form. It's not easy when everyone is paying so much attention. He wants to show his abilities, but the more he tries, the harder it becomes. Tien Linh needs to stay calm, and I will support him," Coach Le Huynh Duc (Ho Chi Minh City Police) replied after the 2025-2026 National Cup quarter-final match on the evening of March 20th, when repeatedly questioned by the media about Tien Linh's failure to score.

Tien Linh has gone six months without scoring in the V-League, spanning 11 matches. If you include the National Cup, the goal drought is shorter but still lasts four months. This statistic is a disappointment for a top striker in Vietnamese football.

Whether alone with the ball in the penalty area or facing only the goalkeeper, he either shot wide or failed to beat the goalkeeper. Present at Thong Nhat Stadium to watch the match between Ho Chi Minh City Police and PVF-CAND in Round 16 of the V-League 2025-2026 on March 15th, coach Kim Sang Sik was understandably disappointed with Tien Linh's abysmal performance.

And two days later, he decided to remove Tien Linh from the Vietnamese national team's training camp for the match against Malaysia in the final round of Group F of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers at Thien Truong Stadium on March 31st. Coach Kim was right in his decision. Because Tien Linh subsequently failed to score in the quarter-final match of the 2025-2026 National Cup, even though the opponent was only a First Division team, Truong Tuoi Dong Nai .

Tien Linh conceded the penalty kick to his younger teammate Khoa Ngo, allowing him to score the only goal of the match – a commendable gesture given his need for a goal to relieve pressure. However, it also showed he lacked the courage to take that penalty. He then continued his forgettable form, missing a golden opportunity to score when facing goalkeeper Tan Truong at the end of the game.

Tien Linh has consistently been the most discussed name in the media regarding his form and playing style over the past eight years, despite being a joint top scorer in the 2022 AFF Cup with six goals (along with Teerasil Dangda of Thailand) and having scored eight goals in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Of those, 3 goals were in the final qualifying round - just one goal short of top scorers like Son Heung Min (South Korea), Junya Ito (Japan), Wu Lei (China)... If he performs poorly in a single play or match for the Vietnamese national team, all the criticism is directed at him as a "wooden-footed" striker.

But this time, Tien Linh has no excuses as he has played terribly in both the V-League and the National Cup this season. Currently, the center forward position in the Vietnamese national team is occupied by naturalized striker Nguyen Xuan Son. However, the Vietnamese national team still has a place for Tien Linh if he can regain his goal-scoring ability. Everyone has a difficult period in their career; the important thing is how they overcome it.

Hopefully, at the age of 29, Tien Linh still has enough ambition to keep going.

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NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/not-tram-cua-tien-linh-20260322101928501.htm